There's Always a Second Chance
by green frogs
Summary: Soujiro lost his first and only love when he missed his once in a lifetime opportunity. Three years later, Sara and Jiroh are two very different people, and neither believes in a second chance. But is this new friendship really enough?
1. Chapter 1

"Are you still a virgin?"

Her face exploded in the cutest, most amazing way. Her eyes grew wide, her jaw fell to somewhere near the floor, and her cheeks grew strawberry red. She was silent for a very long moment and I couldn't help but smile affectionately at her. The new snack, which was way too sweet, was sitting forgotten next to her arm.

She finally found her voice and said, "Jiroh! You don't ask something like that!"

"Why not?" I asked innocently despite the fact that I knew her answer already.

"You just don't. It's so improper. I don't ask things like that do I?" she huffs. I know she's not mad, simply embarrassed. I know her through and through.

"I don't mind if you do, although I suspect you know the answer to that question already," I responded with a grin.

I had forgotten how fun it was, how different it was from every other aspect of my life. Sara exploded into my world again just a couple of months and it hasn't been the same since. We started slow, visits after school every once in a while, when I'm not out partying and when she's not at her clubs or with her friends. She would come with her snacks and her radiating smile. It was awkward at first. I had never been awkward in my whole entire life, especially not with girls, but there it was: that undeniably heavy atmosphere that settled over us. We didn't know what to say, what to talk about, especially after what had happened on that roof.

It got easier, with her bright smiles and the tea. We unconsciously consented that we would never talk about it ever again. And with that, it got easier and easier.

"I'm not answering that," she said with a pout. She was lying on her stomach while reading a magazine. It was a little weird, seeing her read magazines. Just another little change that I haven't gotten used to yet.

"Why not? It's a simple yes or no question. You know, the fact that you're not answering means that you are either a virgin, or you're not and just too embarrassed to talk about it with me. And since we're such good friends, you really shouldn't be embarrassed around me."

She stuck her tongue out at me. "Well which one is it, smarty-pants?"

I pretended to think about it for a while. "You're still a virgin," I said definitely.

Sara, despite how much she's grown over the years, have always been the innocent little girl I've always known and I don't think I could even picture her with a guy, let alone having sex.

She didn't look up from her magazine despite the fact that she was blushing. Then I got curious. She's still a virgin…. isn't she?

"Sara?"

"Yeah?" she asked, not lifting her head. Her eyes were glued to the page, like when Tsukasa saw Makino in a bathing suit for the first time.

"I'm right, aren't I?" I asked.

She shrugged her shoulders and refused to look up.

"You shouldn't have sex," was the first thing that popped out of my mouth before I could think about what I was saying.

This time she looked up, except the look on her face was one of exasperation. "Excuse me?"

I blanked and when I blank, I tend to blab. "You just shouldn't have sex. You could get pregnant, contract diseases and you should definitely wait until you're ready. Don't let guys pressure you into it. Actually, wait until you get married. It's much more special that way. And if you don't get married anytime soon, at least wait until you're thirty."

"_Thirty_?" she asked, her eyes amused and her tone mocking.

"Thirty. Actually, make it thirty-five just to be safe. Men are pigs," I said, all in one breath. What started as a conversation that was supposed to make her embarrassed and uncomfortable has completely flipped a hundred and eighty degrees. Only with Sara do I get this overprotective.

Sara laughed, her lovely voice filling the room and bringing brightness into my silent, empty home. For a minute, I forget about our conversation and my embarrassment and I simply listen to her laugh. I missed this.

"Sorry Jiroh but I can't believe you're the one giving me this speech."

"What do you mean?"

She looked at me with that twinkle in her eyes. "How many women have you slept with, Jiroh? Are you thirty years old? Or is it thirty-five now? Are you married to any of them?"

I can't believe it, but I'm blushing. "It's different," I muttered despite the fact that it's not.

"How so?" she asked, moving closer and trying to see my blushing face, which I hid with my hand.

"It just is."

"When did you lose your virginity Jiroh?" she asked innocently, less than a few centimeters away from my blushing face. I could feel her breath on my face.

"What?" I asked, shocked as much as she was when I asked her whether she was a virgin or not.

"I thought we were such good friends that there's no need to feel embarrassed about it," she said smartly, throwing my own words back at me and sticking her tongue out.

I have a childish impulse to stick my tongue out at her as well but I resist it. Some of us are grown up.

"Are you blushing Jiroh?" she teased. She's taking pleasure in this. It's also one of those little changes that I've started to notice in Sara. She's a little bolder now, a little less timid and a little more teasing. I don't know if I like it or not, but at the present moment, I missed the shy, innocent and dense Sarah.

I stayed silent, my blush working its way down my face. Sara's the only one who knows how to make me blush scarlet.

"Okay. You win. I'm sorry I brought the subject up. Happy now?" I said in defeat.

She smiled affectionately at me and went back to her snack and her magazine. My cell started buzzing suddenly.

"Hello?"

"Soujiro? Did you forget about our date tonight?" came a female voice. Date? Tonight?

"No of course not. I just lost the address. Where are we meeting again?" I asked.

"At the Kaede Hotel near Tokyo Tower, in half an hour. Remember?"

"Of course. I'll be there."

"I can't _wait_ to see you," came the seductive voice.

I hung up the phone and was wondering whether I should get my car or find a driver when Sarah spoke.

"You're _so_ hypocritical."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"First you tell me not to have sex. Then the next second, you're going off somewhere to have sex."

"It's-"

"-different. I know," she responded, rolling her eyes. "So when do you have to leave?"

"Uh…in a couple of minutes," I said, perhaps even more uncomfortable with this conversation.

"Okay. I should go anyway. There's a new sale at the market on snacks and I have to finish the rest of my homework."

She got up and before I could say another word, she was out the door. Perhaps our easy going friendship was not as perfect as I had thought it was.

**A/N: Although I'm a fan of Yuki and Soujiro, I've always loved Soujiro's story about his first love and I wanted to read some Sara/Jiroh fanfiction but I can't find any so I've decided to write one. It's not very good and I don't know where it's going, but it's meant to be cute and fluffy and there might even be Yuki/Jiroh stuff in here later on. **


	2. Chapter 2

"Shrimp chips?" Sakura offers me as she sits down across from me on her carpet.

Snacks, soda, magazines and every nail polish color possible litter her floor. I grab a handful of the salty goodness from the bag and take a look around her room. A lot has changed in the couple of weeks since I was last here. Her pictures of Tohoshinki are gone and replaced by another semi-nude band. Her room is as big as always, with her bright pink carpet and princess bed. While Sakura's room looked every bit like the room of an innocent five year old girl, she was anything but.

"Which nail polish can I interest you in this time?" she asked as she lined up her nail polish in front of me, rainbow colored order, of course.

"Do we have to?" I asked, with a fake whine attached.

"Do you want me to do makeup and hair on you also?" she asked with a devilish grin.

Sakura works part time at a salon and she knows how to do everything beauty related, not that she needs to work. Sakura is probably the only one of my friends, besides Jiroh, who is rich. However, instead of pursuing more suitable careers in life that her family approved of, Sakura sticks by what she loves. Sakura also happens to go to Erin Academy, another rich school similar to Eitoku. We had met when Sakura had run away for a year to live with her aunt, and went to my public high school. Sakura's family finally relented to giving her one year of freedom, and we've been friends ever since. Now, we were both eighteen and university had started. Sakura had gone back to Erin, to attend the extended college program there, while I had successfully entered Tokyo University.

I smile and pick out a pretty grasshopper green.

"So how is he?"

I smile a little, unsure of how to answer the question.

"I really don't know. I mean one minute we're friends and everything is back to the way it was two years ago. Then, with one little word or move, we're back to that awkwardness and we're both thinking the same thing, only we're both afraid to say it," I sighed.

Sakura nodded sympathetically as she applied the color to my toenails.

"You know, Fiji Hitoshi has been asking about you," Sakura said nonchalantly, probably sensing that I needed to desperately change the subject.

I blushed. "What did he say about me?"

"I saw him when I was hanging out with Hitomi. He was wondering how you were doing," Sakura said with a devilish smile.

I rolled my eyes. Fiji Hitoshi used to be my boyfriend. We dated for a couple of months in the third year of high school, but nothing really came of it. I was busy studying for the entrance exam to Tokyo U and had little time to really have a relationship.

"You should give him another try," Sakura prompted. "I mean you're not that busy with entrance exams anymore. You can stop worrying and maybe date the guy."

I tilted my head to the side and contemplated the idea. Hitoshi and I were good friends throughout high school and I had no idea that he liked me, until he confessed to me a month into our third year.

"He's a nice guy," I admitted as Sakura moved on to my left foot. "I've always enjoyed his company. Perhaps I _should_ give him another chance."

"_Excellent_! Cause I already gave him your number," she said innocently.

"Sakura!" I whined.

"Sorry Sara. I couldn't help it. He's gotten totally cuter, and you know I want you to be happy."

"It's alright," I said in defeat as I examined my colored toenails. They were really pretty and Sakura had just started to do designs on them.

"Do you still like Nishikado?" Sakura asked nonchalantly.

"Sakura!" I squealed.

"What? I'm just asking to make sure."

"Of course I don't like Jiroh anymore. We are differnet people now," I said confidently with a smile on my face.

Sakura pondered for a moment. "Good. So operation Hitoshi is about to commence."

* * *

"Jiroh, I don't think that's a good color," I tried to say with a straight face as he walked out of the dressing room in a bright orange shirt.

"Stop laughing!" he yelled at me but I couldn't help it as the peals of laughter escaped my mouth.

"You look like an oversized pumpkin!" I cried, wiping a few tears from my eyes as I watched him scowl at me.

"You are impossible, do you know that?" he said with a roll of his eyes.

"I think you look very good, Nishkado-san," said the female salesperson as she looked over Soujiro. I had no doubt that she thought him _very_ handsome indeed. For Soujiro has always looked remarkably handsome, even if he wore a shirt that made him look like a pumpkin.

He smiled flirtatiously at the salesgirl, took another shirt, and went back into the changing room. I rolled my eyes. He never gave up a chance to flirt with a girl, _never_.

"What are you doing this weekend?" he asked me casually as I sat on one of the beautiful white velvet chairs that dotted the fitting room. I had never been in a fitting room so comfortable before. In most of the stores I shopped at, I sat on the floor outside my friends' changing rooms as I waited and gossiped. Here, people brought you champaign and chocolate truffles. It was an entirely new shopping experience.

"Nothing much. Why?" I asked as I took another chocolate truffle from the tray offered by the hostess. I hadn't touched the champaign. It was way too early to be drinking.

"I have to go to a party of a friend of mine, and I was wondering if you wanted to go," he said from behind the changing curtain.

"This is new. You've never invited me to meet your other friends before," I informed him.

He stepped out from the curtains and shrugged. "Do you want to come or not?"

He looked good. Beyond good. It was a nice, dark blue button-up that accentuated his dark black hair and made his eyes sparkle. He looked very handsome indeed and I almost choked on the chocolate truffle I was chewing and completely forgot our conversation.

He smirked as he saw the look on my face, arrogant bastard that he was. "Not an orange pumpkin anymore?"

"It's alright," I tried to say with a small shrug. He rolled his eyes at my attempted lying. Jiroh always knew when I lied.

"I'll get this one," he informed the salesgirl. She nodded, her eyes transfixed on him as mine had been a second ago.

"I don't think I know anyone," I told him honestly as I reached for another chocolate truffle. These were so good, and they weren't the kind of snacks one could buy at a connivance store.

"Yuki will be there," he told me.

"Really?" I asked, surprised. I haven't seen Yuki in months, not since I graduated high school.

"Yeah, she's best friends with Tsukasa's girlfriend. You know, that girl you met."

We both blushed at the memory of our last meeting. There were some things one never got over.

"Alright. I think I can go. Where is it?"

"Ordiva Restaurant. It's Italian food. I'll call you about the directions later," he told me as he changed back into his old shirt.

My cell ran as Jiroh changed and it took me a whole minute to find it in my bag and take it out. I smiled with relief as I said a quick hello, happy that I didn't miss yet another call because I couldn't find my cell phone. Jiroh would often leave angry messages on my voicemail about how idiotic I was that I couldn't find my phone.

"Sara?" said a familiar voice.

"Hitoshi?" I asked, surprised. Sakura had said she had given him my number, but it had been two weeks, and I didn't think he would remember to call.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked in that casual, laidback manner of his.

"Nothing. I'm out shopping with a friend. How are you?" I said, smiling as I remembered Hitoshi's easy smiles and honesty.

"I'm good. Not much has changed. College is pretty easy," he informed me.

"Really? Are you just saying that because you're falling asleep in class?" I teased with a secret smile as I watched my fingers play with the string on my bag. I remember that Hitoshi had given me this bag for my birthday.

"That's mean, Sara," he said, laughing at himself.

"Well you did sit next to me for three years in high school and you slept through _every_ class."

"And you would always let me copy your homework in the mornings," he reminisced.

I laughed. "Weren't you just calling me mean?"

"Was I? You must've heard wrong. I think I was saying that Sara is the nicest girl in the world."

"Nice try, Hitoshi, but I don't forgive you," I said.

"How shall I make it up to you?"

"You can buy me my favorite ramen."

"How's next Saturday?" he asked.

"Saturday is perfect. I can meet you at noon," I told him.

After we made our plans, we hung up and I couldn't help but smile as I looked at my cell phone. I forgot that Hitoshi could make me laugh, and make me feel comfortable. He was a good guy, and it was never awkward between us.

Someone cleared his throat. I looked up and found Jiroh gazing down at me, with an unfathomable expression on his face. I had known him forever, but I had never seen that look on his face before.

"Who was that?" he asked me, his eyebrows raised as he looked at me. The smile fell off my face. Had I done something to offend him?

"Um, Hitoshi. We went to high school together," I said nervously, unused to that expression on his face. It made me scared, and though I knew Jiroh could be tough and scary, he never used that expression on _me_.

"I can see that. Is he your boyfriend?" Jiroh asked again, with no emotion to his voice. He was not smiling easily as he usually did. Jiroh rarely threw tantrums, and he rarely got upset.

"No," I said slowly, unsure of where to tread and what to say to get that scary look off of Jiroh's face. Was he being an overprotective brother?

"Did you just make a date with him?" he questioned me.

"It's my personal business," I informed him, tired of this interrogation.

"Sara, men aren't good creatures," he told me as though he was explaining to a child.

"You are a man, last time I checked," I said cheekily.

Jiroh rolled his eyes. Good. At least that empty expression was off his face. Now, he was just annoyed.

"Men who want you," he explained exasperatedly, unaware of the double meaning he put behind the words. He took a seat next to me and sighed, unaware that hot tears were forming in my eyes.

"You really shouldn't- Sara! What! Are you okay? Why are you crying?" he asked as he shook my shoulders and tried to find what was wrong with me.

My throat was closing up, and I hated that lump there. I swallowed, but that only made the tears come faster. His hands on my shoulders felt good, but I could still hear those last words repeating in my ears.

"Well, I am sorry," I shouted as I stood up and faced him. He looked absolutely astonished, and that gave me the courage I needed.

"I am sorry that the men who are attracted to me are all evil creatures. I'm sorry that I can't get the good kind of men. But what business is that of yours, Jiroh?" I asked, before I grabbed my coat and stormed out of there, passing the shocked salesgirl at the entrance.


	3. Chapter 3

"I don't understand women," I said loudly.

Rui and Akira both turned towards me, utterly shocked.

"I thought the only thing you understood was woman," Akira said.

I sighed.

"Is it that girl?" Rui asked, and Akira looked at Rui blankly. I forgot that Rui had met Sara before.

I nodded.

"Huh," Rui said, before falling back to the ground and picking up his book.

"What girl?" Akira asked me.

I shrugged as I uncrossed my legs and stretched them out on the glass. We were all sitting on the school lawn, sipping French wine Akira had brought from home.

"Just a friend."

"You have friends who are girls?" Akira asked, shocked.

"She's the only one."

"What about Yuki?" Akira asked me, raising an eyebrow. He knew that Yuki and I slept together a few months ago, and he never failed to tease me about it.

I shrugged. "Yuki is Makino's friend."

Akira looked like he didn't believe me. "Whatever, who's this new girl."

"Just a girl from my childhood. I don't understand what I said that upset her," I informed Akira. It was pretty surprising that I had never told Rui, Akira or Tsukasa about Sara. I suppose it was just weird, combining my two worlds. They were such different people, and they belonged to different parts of my life. I wondered why I invited Sara to the party this weekend. Was I willing to let her into this part of my life…or perhaps was I ready to let my Eitoku friends in to my personal life?

"What did you say?" Akira asked me.

"I was telling her how all men who want her were evil creatures and then she just started crying on me."

"Ouch, that's pretty harsh."

"What? How is that harsh? Men are usually after one thing," I informed Akira and Rui. Rui looked bored and didn't seem to be listening.

Akira raised an eyebrow at me. "Soujiro, men like you and I are usually after one thing. But look at Tsukasa. He's _still_ a virgin, yet he would die for Makino."

I shrugged, thinking over Akira's words. I hate to admit it, but Akira makes everything seem so much clearer. He's the voice of reason, the common sense.

"I guess. But Tsukasa isn't normal," I said reluctantly. Why does Akira _always_ have to be right?

Akira smiled indulgently at me. "Do you think a girl just wants some guy who sleeps with her and forgets about her, or do you think she wants a boyfriend who loves her unconditionally, sex or not? And what you said to her implied that there was something inherently wrong with _her_ since all men who are evil go after her. That can really destroy a girl's self-confidence. I'm surprised you said that. I thought you always knew exactly what to say to women."

I looked upwards towards the sky. "You know, I had thought that too."

What was it about Sara that made me become someone completely different, someone who wasn't a playboy with charismatic one-liners floating out of my mouth? She made me lose my senses. I was nervous around her and I often end up saying the wrong thing. Was it our past? Is it still too awkward between the two of us?

I sighed. All I knew was that I needed to apologize to her.

"Invite her to the party this weekend. I want to meet the girl that's making Soujiro, of all people, question his prowess with women," Akira joked, but Rui had already fallen asleep.

"I already did. But now, I'm not sure she's coming."

"Apologize, you idiot. Buy her something nice and fancy," Akira suggested, rolling his eyes.

I fervently shook my head. "No, it's not like that with her. I can't just buy Sara something pretty to distract her. She's not that kind of girl."

"Are you trying to tell me that this one actually has a brain?"

I punched him in the arm, though he just chuckled. "She's in Tokyo University."

That made Akira's eyes pop. "Seriously? Wow, that's impressive. Is she a nerd?"

"No, not really. She's just really cheerful, childish, and nice. You would think she's an idiot when you first meet her, but she's actually really book smart. She's going to become a corporate lawyer."

Akira didn't say anything and studied me for a moment. "I've never heard you talk so much about a girl's personality before."

"It's not what you think. She's like a sister now," I said.

"So you're telling me you've never liked her?"

"He used to be in love with her," Rui suddenly said.

I turned towards Rui, shocked that he wasn't actually asleep. A book was still placed on top of his head, but he seemed awake, or perhaps some ghost said those words.

"Really?" Akira said with interest.

"Used to be," I stressed.

"No way! Why am I the last one to know about this? I thought I was your best friend, dude," Akira said in mock injury.

"It happened like three years ago, and Rui only found out a few months ago when Yuki became friends with Sara."

"So you don't love her anymore?" Rui mumbled from somewhere behind his book.

"Do you still love Shizuka?" I countered.

Rui was quiet for a moment and I thought he wasn't going to answer, but then he said, "I see what you mean."

Akira looked between the two of us and said, "Huh?"

"I loved Sara romantically, just as Rui loved Shizuka. But over a period of time, you grow and change and become different people. Then that love changes as well and it becomes more like a love based on friendship and familiarity. I bet that's how Makino felt with Rui. Once in a lifetime opportunities," I explained.

Akira stilled looked at me skeptically, though I took Rui's silence to signify consent.

"That's why nothing is going to happen," I stressed. "Once in a lifetime opportunity. We miss it, and it's gone. It's over for Sara and me. We can only be friends."

"That's just stupid," Akira said.

I rolled my eyes. "You don't understand."

Akira looked me in the eye. "Do _you_?"

I paused before I spoke. Didn't I?

* * *

Jiroh called me on Friday and apologized. As close as Jiroh could ever come close to apologizing, of course.

"It really was none of my business," he said to me.

I agreed wholeheartedly. "And?" I asked.

"And… well I was still wondering if you wanted to come to this dinner tomorrow."

"That's it?"

"Yes?" he asked, utterly confused.

I sighed. "Okay. I shall be there."

"Good. Oh and Sara?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry." And then he hung up.

I took the phone away from me and looked at it, utterly flabbergasted. He apologized. I didn't expect it of him.

I flipped through my whole closet for something to wear to Jiroh's dinner. I berated myself for trying to impress him or his friends. What was the point? In the end, I settled on my comfortable jeans and a nice sweater, telling myself I really shouldn't be trying this hard if I didn't love him in that way.

The restaurant was posh and trendy, one of those elegant, yet dark places tucked away in some hidden street. Only those who were looking for it could find it. I saw a major movie star exit the restaurant just as I was entering and tried hard not to gawk. I guess the location worked for keeping the lives of movie stars and music legends out of the press. Inside, the place was gorgeous, not what one would expect when just looking at it from the street. Each table was intimately lit by large candles set elegantly on long silver candlesticks. The floor was this gorgeous hardwood, which would be extremely difficult to clean up after and completely impractical in a restaurant. Silk tablecloths covered each table, and I spied at least four different wine glasses at each place. All of a sudden, I regretted not wearing my nice black dress and a pair of heels.

I spied Jiroh first at a large table in the back. He looked quite handsome, wearing a white button down, most likely from some expensive store I've never even heard of, and a pair of dark jeans.

He stood up when he saw me and walked towards me. "Hey," he said casually.

"Hi," I said back nervously with a smile.

"Come meet my friends," he said and led me to the table.

Already seated were two girls and two guys. I've met three of them before.

Jiroh pointed to people as he introduced them. "That's Rui. Makino. Akira. And you know Yuki. This is Sara."

I smiled and said hello. Yuki stood up and gave me a quick hug, which I returned with affection. I smiled at Yuki's friend, Makino. Then I looked at the two men at the table. The one named Rui was dreamily staring at his menu, while the one named Akira was staring at me as though appraising something he's about to buy. I swallowed at the way he looked at me and took a seat across from Akira and next to Yuki.

"How's college?" Yuki asked me with her usual brave, bright smile.

"It's wonderful. I'm learning so much," I said. "Do you have any idea where you're going to go yet?"

Yuki shook her head. "No idea. I'm such an idiot I don't think I'll get in anywhere."

I was just about to refute it when, Jiroh said quietly, "You're not an idiot."

Yuki smiled back at him with affection, and all of a sudden, I'm wondering what really happened between the two of them. I always knew Yuki liked him, but I wondered what happened to Yuki's love after she found out about Jiroh and me. Did they date? Are they still dating? But Jiroh was sleeping around as usual wasn't he? What was going on? Tsukushi and Rui were on the far end, having some conversation about France, and Jiroh was trying to explain the Italian words on the menu. And all of a sudden, I caught the eye of Akira, who was still staring at me in appraisal from across the table. He had also caught the exchange between Yuki and Jiroh, and he looked at me as though to gather my thoughts on it. He raised an eyebrow.

"So?" he asked me in a low voice over the din of the restaurant. No one, not even Yuki and Jiroh, could hear us unless they were trying very hard to hear.

"Yes?"

"Are you jealous? Soujiro told me you don't know."

"What?" The man seemed to enjoy speaking in riddles.

"Never mind. For someone who's going to Tokyo University, you aren't very observant."

I tilted my head and looked at him. "You're the observant one of the group, aren't you? And seeing as how all the women who are thirty or over in this room have been looking at you for quite a while, I would assume that you have a reputation of sleeping with older women. Am I right?"

He smiled at me, amused. "And how do I know Soujiro haven't just told you this?"

"Jiroh never tells me about his school friends."

"That's a surprise. I thought he told you about everything," he remarked, an easy smile still grazing his lips though his eyes were judging me.

"Not everything," I responded, my eyes flickering back to Jiroh and Yuki's easy conversation.

Mimasaka caught my gaze and continued, "What else do you see in me?"

I placed a finger on my bottom lip and looked at him. He was a very good-looking man, perhaps even more so than Jiroh. He had a calming effect on people, instead of Jiroh's charm and excitement.

"You must have a very young mother," I remarked as I watched him.

He stared at me and then burst out laughing. It was a soft, sweet sound. "How did you know?" he asked.

"And a sister, I assume? Girly and immature, just like your mother?"

"Soujiro must've told you that."

"No. I swear he didn't. You can ask him yourself," I retorted and smiled genuinely for the first time at the man. "There must be a reason why you prefer older women. Some men do it for the money and benefits. You certainly do not lack the money. It seems the most reasonable. That, or you once fell in love with a very childish girl and she broke your heart. But you don't seem like the type to get his heart broken."

He raised his eyebrows, his eyes amused. "I don't?"

"Nope. You seem like the type to be very careful about the type of girl you fall for. You guard your heart better than anyone," I remarked as I watched him, his light brown eyes widening at my speech.

It was true. He seemed like the type who could control his emotions easily.

He regarded me as well, and the smile fell off his face for a moment, before it came back, brighter than ever. "I take my words back. You're far more observant than anyone I've ever known."

I smiled and bowed my head a little at the compliment.

Then a twinkle emerged in his eyes, reminding a little too much of Jiroh. No wonder they were such good friends. "But now it is my turn, is it not?" he asked me as he watched my face.

"For what?" I said, unsure where he was heading.

"To observe."

And as he said those words, the waiter came to take our orders. The conversation with Mimasaka had been so interesting I had forgotten to look through the menu. But a quick glance told me what I wanted, and I ordered in Italian. It was a little rusty, but the waiter didn't seem to know any better. Jiroh looked at me in surprise after we had all ordered.

"When did you learn Italian?" he asked me.

"I spent a summer in Italy a year ago on an exchange program," I remarked. It was a fabulous summer spent in the sun. I had earned a scholarship with a very exclusive program, or else I would've never even seen Europe, let alone spend a summer learning about art history while living in a 16th century castle that had been converted into a school.

"That sounds amazing. I've always wanted to go to Europe," Yuki said as she looked at me with admiration in her eyes.

"I could send you the scholarship information. The program is amazing, and it's all covered."

"I could never get in."

"Of course you can! Just work hard and you can do anything," I told her with an encouraging smile.

"You must be very smart," Makino said as she watched me too with the same respect.

"She's a genius," Jiroh told them proudly.

I blushed at the compliments, especially Jiroh's. "I just work hard," I said.

Thankfully, the conversation went off of me. Rui and Jiroh were caught in a discussion about a trip to Italy, and Makino and Yuki were listening with amazement.

I reached over and took a sip of my wine. I choked and coughed a little. Setting it down, I reached quickly for the water, hoping no one noticed. I looked up and saw a pair of eyes watching me from directly across the table. I set the glass of water down.

"You're a little immature, aren't you?" Mimasaka asked me.

I smiled. I suppose it was my turn to be observed.

"You must've gotten that from Jiroh. He always thinks I'm still ten years old," I remarked.

"Yes," he admitted. I was surprised at his truthfulness. "Soujiro did mention it. But you are not as immature as he thinks you, right? You're obviously very smart, and sophisticated."

"Sophisticated?" I asked, with a raise of my eyebrows. No one has called me that before.

"Perhaps that's the wrong word. You're very educated and interesting to talk to. But you also have this refreshing childish innocence and curiosity attached to you," he admitted to me.

I laughed. "That's new."

"I mean to say that you're more grown up than Soujiro thinks you are," he responded with a small, confused smile.

"You should try telling him that," I said as I looked over at Jiroh. He seemed to sense my gaze because he turned around and caught my eye, flashing me a small smile.

"How are you two getting along?" he asked us.

I looked at Mimasaka and he looked at me. We smiled a knowing smile at each other. "We're comparing notes," Mimasaka said cryptically.

Jiroh looked between the two of us. The small smile was still on his face, but it looked a little different.

"And what was the conclusion?" Jiroh asked.

"That we're both quite good at taking notes," I replied.

Mimasaka laughed.

The rest of the group broke off from their conversation and looked over to see what the source of laughter was.

"No wonder Soujiro has been hiding you. You're fun to be around," Mimasaka said.

I smiled at the compliment.

Jiroh scowled. "I haven't been _hiding_ her."

"Then why have we never met her before?" Mimasaka countered.

"Maybe it's because you can't be trusted to be around girls," Jiroh joked.

Everyone laughed at the statement except for Mimasaka. He simply smiled a little and took a sip of his wine. I wondered why Jiroh never introduced me to any of his friends. Back then, a part of me never wanted to meet them. I wanted to believe that Jiroh was all mine. The women he slept with came and went, but I was his best friend. Knowing that he had other friends made me just a little bit inexplicably jealous when I was still madly in love with him. Now, I can appreciate his friends. I was taking a liking to Mimasaka.


End file.
